WHIFF!

Missed Opportunity

Wednesday, June 26th, 2024

by Ken Pullen

ACP

Yesterday I went for some lab work. My doctor wants to check certain things in my blood and urine about twice a year. It was a beautiful day that the Lord made where I live and I was thankful for how by His will He holds everything together. A wonderful summer day. The drive to the lab was easy and without incident, although a very young solitary doe was dining on some grass no more than four feet from the edge of the two lane country road I was traveling on, and knowing how deer can react quickly I slowed down and passed her almost at a stop. She looked up from her meal to look directly at me while my vehicle inched along. And in my human mind thinking I might know what’s in a deer’s mind I thought she probably thought, “What’s this guy up to?”

No incident. I just went on to the lab.

The lab is on the ground floor of an internationally known hospital system always receiving very high ratings for health care in numerous areas. I checked in. Only waited about four minutes and was called in to see the lab technician.

After the usual pleasantries, she asked, “So, are you doing anything exciting later today?” Making small talk.

Being odd and having the mind that God gave me I had a number of things flash across the synapses, but I didn’t want to freak her out or have her get on the intercom and give the code numbers for a psych team to report to the lab, so in an instant after she asked that question I replied, “No, nothing exciting planned.”

And she feigned disappointment for me at hearing that. Perhaps she was genuinely disappointed to learn I had nothing exciting in my day ahead.

I continued, “Well, if something exciting that is good happens, great, but exciting can also be something bad. I don’t want or need anything exciting that is bad. So, if today is boring I’ll be happy.”

“Boring!?”

“Yes, boring isn’t always bad. Believe me. It’s better than having something exciting happen that is bad.”

“That makes sense.”

Yes, I like sense. It makes sense to exercise sense. Sense is God-given. It ought to be used well. Sadly it appears rarer these days than seeing a foot of snow on the streets of Phoenix in mid-July.

This all occurred while finding the best vein to jab and draw a couple of vials of blood, and also being asked three times in about ninety seconds if I was sure I could urinate because if I could not I would have to make a separate appointment to come back to pee in the little plastic cup.

Again, the mind was working and I almost fell into coming up with some character voice [know of or remember Jonathan Winters?] and saying, “Ahh, you are a young thing aren’t you? See me? An old man? I had to pee while sitting out in the reception area. But I didn’t. You know how you can tell a trained dog to sit and the dog sits? Ask me to pee and I can pee. If the world goes on long enough and you reach my age you won’t need someone to ask you three times in less than two minutes if you can pee.”

All that in a matter of seconds within my mind. But all I said was, “I won’t have any trouble being able to urinate, thank you.”

It was on the drive home when going down the high twisting hill before reaching the river that that same mind within me finally connected to my heart and heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me…

“That was a missed opportunity.”

And I knew what the Spirit meant.

When I was asked if I was going to do anything exciting later in my day I should have replied…

“Yes, I am. I’m going to engage in the most exciting adventure any person can! I’m going to go back home and go into my office and pray to the Lord and open His Word and eat, drink of the Holy Bible that contains every possible thing that anyone can ever experience no matter who, no matter when they are alive…and I’m going to learn more about the God Who came to this earth and took on human skin and life to in His short earthly life, being truly fully a man, while also being truly fully the eternal God with no beginning and no end offered up Himself for the forgiveness of my sin. And I’m going to think about these things. Explore and climb into and around His living Word and grow closer to Him while thanking Him the whole time for what He did for me, and what He has done, does, and will do for any sincere person seeking Him and hearing Him say, “Come,” and they respond. There is nothing more exciting!”

Or at least something along those lines.

But I didn’t say that.

I just got up from the chair I was sitting in for the blood draw, thanked her, and went to stand in line outside the lone bathroom having to now pee badly after all the talk about urinating.

The lost words of an opportunity only came to me on the drive back home.

Well, Lord willing I’m blessed with life here on earth for another six months I’ll be back at that same lab for a redux of everything and I’m going to pray I do not miss another opportunity…and that the line outside the bathroom isn’t as long…